1. |
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an Gogh On Meds
Vincent Van Gogh never took his meds
Because he knew that they would mess with
oranges and reds
You may think he was just a painting machine
Because he wasn’t medicated he was just obscene
Livin’ on paint and pure absinthe
What the hell is wrong with you? HEY VINCE!
Vincent Van Gogh never took his meds
Because he knew that he’d be even more
messed up in the head
Sunflower, sunflower fade away
Wilting in the grip of deadly nightshade
Peasant woman, peasant woman bend and toil
Let the servant of light catch you - in his coil
Vincent Van Gogh wouldn’t take his meds
Because they put all the fire out in his head
Vincent would have never cut off his ear
But he just couldn’t stand all the things he’d hear
Vincent Van Gogh was a holy man
Who was hated by the religious in old Holland.
Vincent Van Gogh never took his meds
Because he knew that they would mess with
yellows and reds
Sunflower, sunflower drooping down
From the weight of the hate in this forlorn town
Hey Paul Gaugin won’t you help him please?
His body may be in prison but his paint - is free.
Vincent Van Gogh wouldn’t take his meds
Because he knew that they would mess with
his yellows and reds
They all thought he was just a painting fool
Because he never graduated from art school
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2. |
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Lying On a Beach (in Mexico)
Lying on a beach in Mexico
I’m a human being in a state of bliss
Lying on a beach no place to go
‘Cos I know that it don’t get better than this
Lying on a beach in Mexico
I heard somebody’s cellphone ring
I almost got up to answer that thing
But I laid back down on my sandy bed
I Kicked that thought right outa my head
I’m a human being in a state of bliss
And I know that it don’t get better – better than this!
Lying on a beach with an Aztec glow
Near an ancient ruin only Toltecs know
Lying on a beach dreamin’ of snow
I don’t wanna go back to Ontario…I wanna
Lie here on this beach in Mexico
Blue water, blue sky, baking sand
Native hospitality on demand
No sound travels electronically
To disturb our reverie
We’re just human beings in a state of bliss
And we know that it don’t get better – better than this!
Canadian boy and Canadian girl
On their first trip around the world
We finally got away to a place so sunny
And they don’t take American money
Lying out of reach in Yucatan
Lyin’ under Mayan skies so clear
Lappin’ up the heat of Merida streets
Quetzl-Cola and a bottle of beer
I just can’t believe - believe that we’re here
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3. |
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Girl Reading (Anais Nin) by the Side of the Road
I saw a girl in a punk t-shirt (peasant skirt)
Sitting on the curb reading
Barefoot in the dirt
She did not look up
She did not care
What in this world was up
Beyond the pages there
I don’t know how she could be so carefree
Underneath the sword of Damocles
All these cars and cares just whizzing by her
Like so much chaff in the breeze
Come on now open me
I’m ready to be read
Summon some poetry
From the depths of the river
where my dreams have fled
Come on now open me
like that book in your hand
Summon some poetry
Without it I don’t have the strength
to make a stand
I sped right on
my day was changed
My mind fixed upon heeding
The sight of one so unchained
I don’t know if I was feeling’ dizzy
Or if my mind had become deranged
All I know is I was much too busy
To stop and ask her for her name
Come on now open me
like that book in your hand
Summon some poetry
Without it I don’t have the strength
to make a stand
Without You I don’t have the strength
to make a stand
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4. |
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Sucker For a Blue Chanteuse
Standing in the town square,
Your voice fills the air
Your gift for suffering brings such
sweet songs to me
Those things you cannot shake
make your heart always break.
But in your tears all that’s fake disappears.
So many pass you by
pay no heed to your cry
Blind to the beauty there,
deaf to the song you share
Your love goes so deep.
Long nights that know no sleep.
All your dreams in waking keep
what love redeems
I’m a sucker for you, blue chanteuse
In a world torn with grief,
you bring such relief
Your hope and your despair,
floating through the air
You were born to feel these things
no one else but you can sing
What you have seen – only you can bring –
what’s never been.
I’m a sucker for you blue chanteuse.
I’m a sucker for one who’s taken
so much abuse
I’m a sucker for you blue chanteuse.
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5. |
Providence Waits For You
03:15
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Providence Waits For You
Until one is committed there is hesitancy
Always the chance to draw back
Countless ideas and splendid plans
Are killed by ignoring this fact
That the moment one commits oneself
All Providence will act
All sorts of things come along to help one
That would otherwise not have been
Streams of events issue from the resolve
Bringing things to pass unforeseen
The moment one commits oneself
All Providence will act
Boldness has genius, power and magic
Whatever you can do start it now
We often feel we shall never be free
But Providence waits for you and for me
Spontaneous meetings, material aid
Which no one could have dreamed will come
Whatever you can do or dream you can do
Will be backed up once begun
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6. |
Born In the Universe
04:42
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Born in the Universe
I remember the child so well
How the feeling in my breast did swell
The love and the light she brought my way
I held her on her first birthday
I remember the child so well
Took her to see where the mountains dwell
Above everything love is true
I held her hand when she turned two
All of this and more I do recollect
Memory plays tricks I know
but these ones are correct
She was born – born in the universe
To a song of love, a chorus of hope
and a healing verse
She was born – born in the universe
Child of love, child of hope
for the universe
I remember the child so well
The way she looked and the way she felt
Running naked in the sand and sea
The poetry in her soul at three
I remember the child so well.
The stories that I used to tell.
To get her to sleep but she’d ask for more.
You just can’t fool a child of four
An album full of photographs
With time and place inscribed
Preserving for posterity events
I have described
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7. |
Deep Are the Waters
02:37
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|
Deep Are the Waters
I do not care where I hang my hat
I only care where my attitude’s at
I do not cry when I see how it’s gone
I look down the road and I see it goes on…oh oh oh
Deep are the waters that never run dry
Deep are the feelings that make you cry
Deep are the waters that never run dry
Drink from that well - till the day that you die.
Now I do not claim that I know what is best
I only know that it’s time for a rest
All of those problems we all seem to find
Are only the products of ungrateful minds…oh oh oh
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8. |
Fashion Parade
02:53
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|
Fashion Parade
The new magazines, the endless facades
The fight for your dreams
amidst the sharks and the frauds
You sell out on one,
Then follow with two
There’s soon no one left who can
recognize you
Vacation in Spain and a Mercedes Benz
The jet set of wealth and your
elusive new friends
Smiling in style, popping pills
for the pain
You’re free as a bird
Free to rattle your chains
Does it feel so unreal as you wheel
and you deal?
As you make the grade
in the fashion parade
No time for fun
It’s pleasure as you dare
You strut for the cameras
on the Grand Riviera
A face with no voice
on the cover of Vogue
Facetious no doubt
as you hug the next rogue
The man debonair
from the big agency
You’re lost in the glare
of his hypocrisy
Money’s the thing
that gets you to bed
It gives you sweet dreams
to fill the holes in your head
My dear, do you fear
That the face in the mirror
Will not make the grade
in the fashion parade
Now you’re walking the streets
of the Rue Ste. Denise
It took you ten years to get
back on your knees
The people you knew
have all abandoned you
They put faith in your face
but now grace must break through
Fallen like an angel your pride
What once lived in fame
Now has no place to hide
What will you do?
On whom will you depend?
Who do you turn to
when you’ve reached the end?
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9. |
The Losses
03:37
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|
The Losses
We’re goin’ back to the start
of all we can realize
We got worn in the heart
And very tired of the lies oh oh
These are only phantoms taunting
All my fears are not done haunting me
I’ve got a hunch they’ll never let me be
Pardon me for being the one
Who draws attention to the crosses
Pardon Me for being the one
Who always feel the losses
You know I’m pining for you.
You are tres amusant!
I’m tired, torn and blue -
From all the impediment oh oh
I realize you’re not the enemy
Our trouble has to do with how we see
Things in perspective oh so differently
There’s always something lingering there
There’s always some pain I can’t declare
It seems I’m burdened with the task of
challenging the bosses oh yeah
There’s a lot to be said –
For keeping your mouth shut
It’s in a book that I read –
On all the if’s, and’s and but’s oh
High on this downward spiral lingering
Just like the chords I have trouble fingering
I’m taking the time to read between the lines
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10. |
Motel Planet Earth
02:10
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|
Motel Planet Earth
The moral stance is made
The ghouls are on parade
and a thousand gleaming sabres
are set to end the mad charade
The music boxes unwind
The song itself is redefined
and a hundred million voices leave
the fears of peace behind
Because there’s trouble tonight
on the motel planet
Trouble tonight on the motel planet
Trouble tonight on the motel planet earth
The secret service signals
from the borders of decay
and a thousand million soldiers
burn their homes and march away
Stepped into my room to see
just what I’m buying
Somebody stole my luggage
It may have been too soon
but I began to drink
Imbibing in some druggage
Just then a soldier burst
into my room
He shot me through my leg and hand
I crumpled to the floor
as he ran out the door
I’ve no idea how this all began
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11. |
One Smile
03:20
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|
One Smile
We sing in the night, we sing in the sun
We float on the breeze
We’re here for good – it’s understood
We do as we please
We sing - we love
We make it rain, we make it shine
We have what we need
We take it slow, we take it fast
We make our own speed
We sing – we love
One baby makes the world begin
And one right action cancels every sin
One smile makes the day begin again.
We are the answer for our question
We are the reason – we are the best one
We drop our swords and every war will end.
One smile – one smile.
We feel the rain, we feel the sun
And have things that we loathe
Some have it good, some have it bad
Most have it both
We laugh – we cry
We dance in the night, weep in the day
We go our own way
We feel alone – heavy as stone
Lost in the fray
We hope – we fear
One smile – one smile – one smile – one
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12. |
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Secret Borders of the Heart
They told you everything you need
They say to keep you warm
While the winds around are raging
You won’t sink in the storm
With one condition, our permission
Your duty do not shirk
Keep your questions to yourself
If you want this plan to work
So you keep it shut, you’re obedient but
Just waiting to depart
These badlands of your memory
for the secret borders of the heart
When the moralizing’s over
and the ideals all dissolve
Will you have the strength left
To see your dreams resolved
Is it really the way you see it?
Or the way you have been told?
Have you found the magic doorway
to come in from the cold
While you’re fading goals
Walk on hot coals, in the fire’s light depart
These badlands of your memory
for the secret borders of the heart
The wheel’s grind you down
in the cities and towns
And the ones that you trust
Their light turns to lust
and they leave you heart-broken
and bound
You think your life’s so rosy
No plague can come near you
You stay in straits so cozy
No real truth can get through
With a little more experience
You might not have been misled
But as it stands - you’ll take commands
From those you trust instead
For your lack of sense - you’ve no defence
But that’s a place to start
from the badlands of your memory
to the secret borders of the heart
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13. |
Silence on the Tundra
04:00
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|
Silence on the Tundra
I’ve run a full gamut in the gauntlet of strife
I’ve reached my credit limit in the game of life
Silence on the tundra, what the hell is it for?
My brain has a petition
but answers just don’t come anymore
Moving up the hill
With resolve and a strong will
Face like flint in the driving rain
I have got no choice but to start all over again
The world wears you out with it’s endless demands
Life tears your heart out strand by strand
Silence on the tundra conspires in my brain
Nothing’s black and white
Where the blood has left a stain
So unlucky in all I’ve done
So unlucky in all I do
So unlucky in all things but one
I was lucky to - have found you
I cover the same old ground
I wait until things come around
I’m drinking the old hard stuff
I get my fill but it’s never enough
I’m just an unlucky man seeing it through
I’ve lost all perspective on just what’s true
Is this silence on the tundra the will of the Lord?
I’m up against the wall but I am that I am -
is drawing his sword
Anyone who says they’ve got no regrets
Is just blind to the pain, just blind to the pain
Just blind to the pain that they’ve caused all the rest.
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14. |
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|
Goodbye Sweet Illusion (fast version)
I have no reason to require
Anything less of you than the truth
This is my recurring desire
That you tell me what I should do
I don’t know why I just feel so low down
I don’t know why this ain’t an easier show down
I don’t know what it is - but it is gonna be brutal
Telling you all that I haven’t told you before
My love for you can go no higher
Than the last white lie I told you
It might have been my desire
To spare you the pain I’m going through
My public persona it is crumbling
One of these days I’ll just collapse
A nervous breakdown is so humbling
Especially when you’ve kept it under wraps
Everything I love is now worthless
Everything I say so mundane
Everyone I meet is so mirthless
How do we get home again?
Confession is good for the soul - somebody said
But like a dentist who’s drilling the pressure is killing dead
So it’s goodbye - goodbye sweet illusion
Goodbye and don’t come round again
I’ve had enough of your confusion
I want to be happy again I want to be happy-ee,
I want to be happy-ee, I want to be happy again.
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15. |
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People Still Love Christmas
I can recall a simpler time
Church doors stayed open
without the fear of crime
I remember a day when the city was safe
A child could wander freely
alone from place to place
People still love Christmas everywhere.
The season begins early and earlier
The only sound I hear ringing
is the cash register
So many suffering from neglect
But let’s make sure that everything’s
politically correct
People still love Christmas time.
This is the Christmas dream I dream
To get a glimpse beneath the veil
Beneath the way things seem
People still love Christmas everywhere.
So happy birthday Christ! Happy birthday!
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16. |
Strobelight Dream
09:18
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|
Strobe Light Dream
I walked through the rubble to the top of the street
where our armoured divisions had tasted defeat
I took off my shoes and I fell to the ground
Holding handfuls of dust to the sky looked around
The children began to come out of their caves
One had a button that said ‘Jesus saves’…
He took it off and threw it in the dirt
and I realized what our religion was worth in the end
They say in space no one can hear you scream
But there is sound in my strobe light dream
All the mountains crumble into dust
Who laid the charges? Who broke the trust?
Driving in the country on a wooded road
Being strobed by sunlight through the trees that showed me
How light in broken fragments shines on all alone
It can strike you anywhere
There’s no understanding the ways of broken men
We keep forgetting it will take lifetimes to mend
The revolution’s cancelled ‘cos we’re having a bad day
If that’s it all it amounts to – it wasn’t worth having anyway
The ruckus in the country has turned into a moan
Semblance and resemblance to ways we think we’ve outgrown
That realization that you’re standing all alone
It can strike you anywhere
Harmed and dangerous, Humans in the stream
Floating to the top, In my strobe light dream
Harmed and dangerous, things aren’t what they seem
What’s churning down below in this strobelight dream
Harmed and dangerous, human calamities
They can strike you anywhere
I don’t what’s goin’ on,
but I know that I’m here
I don’t what’s goin’ on,
but I know what I fear
There’s all these people walkin’ round,
thinkin’ there’s no one who cares
So there ready to take it out
on the next one who dares
cross their path on their way to work
or while shopping at the mall
No one is safe – no one at all
Our leaders are liars
and their vested interests dictate
Who they will appease and who they will subjugate
They are shallow and fickle
and yet driven by the need
To appear before other people as someone
that they should heed
Their limitations are obvious,
they are exactly as they appear
The noble statesmen of the past won’t be
resurrected this year
and there’s a disgust growing
among the common folk
At the way they take us all for fools
and love to keep us all broke
Enslaved to the jobs that we demand they create
(let’s be fair)
And to the debt we incur
when we take the false bait
I swear the bankers and the businessman,
politicians, priests and kings
Must have no children to look out for
or they wouldn’t do these things…..
It’s been millennia now of this sad human affair
The experiment’s gone all wrong
and God just doesn’t seem to care
You made us all, you left us here
On you I call to make things clear
There’s never time enough to get clarity
They throw things at us so damn fast
that we never really see
Just what’s before us – or what just went by
There’s blitzkrieg in the heavens
And on earth a mournful sigh
As if you could build hope
by merely turning up your thumbs
We’re ready to believe
but we hear the same old drums
Were poised to be told the truth
but still it never comes
It can strike you anywhere
I stood in a crater where a hospital once was
I picked up a limb that was lying in the dust
I broke down and wept for the vanquished and lost
Smelled the smoke from the fires
where the bodies were tossed
The victors were shouting that God had prevailed
All I could see was that we had failed
In the end….
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17. |
High Minded
01:53
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|
High Minded
The secret to winning is to be on time
To give of yourself when you’re in decline
Your head may be spinning but it’s hard to find
One good reason you should keep on trying
You’d like to trust your vision
but your window’s fogged
You can’t make no decision
‘cos your mind is clogged
So many lovers putting you to shame
Putting you before others
and you’re still playing games
High minded people can never explain
Why all the dancing children seem to be so happy
to behave the same
The secret to grinning is curl up your mouth
Let a little light in and it falls back out
When it seems so crazy to feel that secure
Your passion’s pounding and your heart’s on tour
You’re looking for an angel
There’s none to be found
You’re looking for a way to get
your feet back on the ground
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18. |
I Can't See Me
03:09
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|
I Can’t See Me
It’s a summer morning something’s happening
My feelings are on edge
There’s a storm warning something’s bringing me
Closer to the ledge
Who is it? What is it? What can I do?
I feel it must be you.
Where am I? Who am I? What can I see?
I know I can’t see me.
One summer morning I felt you warming
You brought me to the light
I felt your heart beating close to mine
It was oh so right, It was oh so right
Who is it? What is it? What can it be?
It must be something new.
Who am I? What am I? What can I do?
I hope you see it too.
I’ve seen all the angles and known all the dangers
I’ve run with the wild ones and danced with the strangers
I’ve studied the wise and read the good book
I tried to be pious but felt like a crook
Got a pretty good handle on all that I see
But I still need your candle to help see me.
Now it’s a different day I sit alone and play
Songs for loving souls.
Maybe I’ll make it. Maybe I’ll break it.
Who knows what the future holds?
Who knows what the future holds?
I don’t care what the future holds.
It’s a summer morning something’s happening
My feelings start to mend
There’s something shining in the distance
I’ll follow it to the end
Who is it? What is it? What can it be?
It must be something new
Who am I? What are you? What can we do?
I hope you see it too.
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19. |
Things Will Be Fine
03:03
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|
Things Will Be Fine
Momma something’s wrong
Been alone too long
Been out takin’ my chances
Out where true romance is
Got to feel alive
Sail on past the jive
Pack up my heart and go
Where I just don’t know
I’ve been praying for the rain
to wash my soul clean again
I’ve been praying for The Son
to bring to me that special one
Someday baby, things will be fine.
No sense goin’ to sleep
Dreams are the things that
I cannot keep
So I’ll just stay awake
I’ll toss and turn
but I just won’t fake
Some people they might say
I wasted yesterday
But I got my hand on this plow
I’m going ahead somehow
Got my back to the wind
Blow me out where I’ve never been
I’ve got my seat on that plane
I’m gonna fly till I’m high again
Someday baby, things will be fine.
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20. |
Something of Value
03:29
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|
Something of Value
Barkin’ at the force of darkness
Barkin’ in the face of crime
Barkin’ like a dog all gunshot
Barkin’ like a man of time
Bleedin’ like a burstin’ dam
Bleedin’ like a streak in the sky
Bleedin’ like a breakin’ scam
Bleedin’ like a love gone awry
This old world has not swayed me
Though I have been so forlorn
This old world has not phased me
Not since the day I was born
Ragin’ like a forest fire
Ragin’ at the agents of death
Ragin’ like I touched a live wire
Ragin’ till I take my last breath
I want to say my peace now
I want to give it to you
Demonstrate my release now
Give you a taste of what truth
puts you through
Something of value
cannot be bought or sold.
Crawlin’ through the muck and the mire
Crawlin’ keeps my dirty boots clean
Crawlin’ like a cat through barbed wire
Always crawlin’ back to the scene
Trouble and pain have not swayed me
Though I have been so forlorn
Trouble and pain have not phased me
Not since the day I was born
i want to feel like I’m part of you
Before it’s finally too late
Get to the point, that’s the point of you
I want to hear all you can relate.
Something of value
cannot be bought or sold.
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21. |
Student Alley
04:13
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|
Student Alley
Reelin’ and runnin’ trying
to make ends meet
I’m just the kind of person
you meet on the street
Caught between the car wheels
and the spray of the sleet
Caught between the vision
and the lies of defeat
See this heart in the valley?
Take a skate round the fountain
See this life? Student alley.
Here the choir on the mountain.
Catch me going to work
Catch me going to market
Catch me holding a match
One day I’m going to spark it
Watch me given to spurts
of divine interaction
Watch me laughing and crying
avoiding distraction
Hear the choir on the mountain.
They sing, ‘One day the water is rising.
One day the waters part.
There’s only one thing that’s not surprising.
How we rise. how we rise,
How we rise up with endless heart.
We wander the fields
cut down in suspense
The things the spirit reveals
are our only defence
We gave at the office
We gave at the start
But lost our intentions
when time broke our heart
Armfuls of thoughts in the
books that we bought
Teaching us, reaching us
Cured on the spot
Trembling favours exchanged
in the halls
As we bear each other’s burden
and laugh down the walls.
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||||
22. |
||||
|
You’ll Never Know Till You Try
You say that you’ll never love me
and that I shouldn’t ask why
You think you stand so far above me
but there’s one thing you can’t deny
You’ll never know till you try.
You say that I shouldn’t bother
You say that I’ll just be wastin’
my precious time
But o my darling I hunger
and I won’t sleep a wink
till you’re miine.
You’ll never know til you try.
In this old world there’s no living
Unless you’re right there by my side
And if our love ain’t worth giving
We’ll never know till we try.
|
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23. |
Tender Troubles
02:48
|
|||
|
Tender Troubles
You’ve got some tender troubles
haunting you
You’ve got some tender troubles
that won’t let you be you
You’ve got some tender troubles
on the inside
You’ve got some tender troubles
haunting you
There were times
I really knew you cared
There were times
when love was to be shared
There were times
you never made me blue
Not those times are all forgotten too.
There were times
we flowed together well.
There were times
spent under each other’s spell.
There were times
when we were truly one
Now those times are all over and done.
|
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24. |
You're Alright With Me
03:21
|
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|
You’re Alright With Me
You’re alright with me
You’re alright with me
You’re alright, you’re alright with me.
You’ve been through a lot
What a big heart you’ve got
You’re alright, you’re alright with me.
You think you’ve got no one
but you’ve got somebody
You think you’ve got no one
but you’ve got a good buddy
It might be hard
Sometimes it’s hard to see but
you’re alright with me.
When I’m feeling down
You always bring me round
You’re alright, you’re alright with me
When I lost my place
You bring me back to grace - that’s why
You’re alright, you’re alright with me.
The ones who put you down
Like to throw their weight around
But you’re alright - you step lightly.
|
||||
25. |
||||
|
You Stand For the Troubled
You stand for the troubled,
afflicted and torn
You stand for the troubled
who wish they’d never been born
You stand for the troubled
The worn out and frayed
You stand for the troubled
It’s them you came to save
You’re no respecter
of the high born or low
You deal in justice
and sometimes you deal slow
You give what’s coming
to the unjust king
You stand for the troubled
through everything
There’s no time to think about it
No time to stall
It’s time to get into it
and give it your all
There’s no time left
for the meaningless thing
It’s time to get straight
with eternity’s king
If you don’t know you’re sick
you won’t call a doctor
If you don’t you’re lost
you won’t ask for a guide
You stand for the troubled
when the trouble gets hotter
You stand for the troubled
right by their side
He stands with the troubled
in the lion’s den
He fights for the troubled
who call out to him
He stands for the humble
through thick and thin
He fights for the troubled
and he liberates them
He stands for the hurting,
the broken and weak
He stands for the battered
too crazed to speak
He stands for the troubled
everywhere they’re found
Every lie that binds them
must come down.
|
||||
26. |
Under the Open Heavens
03:01
|
|||
|
Under the Open Heavens
Under the open heavens
Jesus walked
Wherever he set his feet
God would come
Under the open heavens
Jesus talked
Whenever he would pray
God would come
And have his love shown
through the earth
And have his love flowing
through his holy people
Under the open heavens
We must walk
Our prayers must open
every prison door
Under the open heavens
We must talk
Our prayers must set
each and every captive free
And see God’s will
accomplished in the earth.
And see God’s will
accomplished through his holy people.
Pray for the open heavens
Come down Lord
Under the open skies
Prayers will rise
Cry for the open heavens
Hear us Lord
Come open up the spiritual sky.
Come open up the heavens
Over our land
Come open up the spiritual sky.
|
||||
27. |
||||
|
Every Human Needs a Friend and
a Car That Works
I was thinkin’ of you late last night
I wondered what to do
So I turned on the light
I went hittin’ the pavement
Walkin’ all alone
Goin’ down to your place
Hopin’ that your home
Every human needs a friend
and a car that works
Saw you outside
You were washin’ the car
I said, ‘It’s 6:30 in the mornin’!
Do you know where you are?’
You smiled up at me
Grinnin’ that grin
and the look in your eye
It were the wages of sin
as you said…
Every human needs a friend
and a car that works. Every human.
So if you’re hittin’ the pavement
Walkin’ all alone
Goin’ to a friend’s place
Hopin’ that they’re home.
They may be holdin’ the keys
to some brand new wheels
Go on and take it for a spin
You might just like how it feels.
Every human needs a friend
and a car that works. Every human.
|
||||
28. |
Wonderful Lies
02:42
|
|||
29. |
Bow Tie Charlie
04:37
|
|||
|
Bow Tie Charlie
Charlie shuffles on down the street
He don’t mind the dirt
He’s not the kind of man
you might like to meet
He smell bad but he don’t hurt
Charlie has several identities
He don’t mind which one you pick
He may lecture on manhood or compassion
He may show you a card trick
Bow Tie Charlie tell me
How’d you get that name?
Bow Tie Charlie will say something
about some dame
Bow Tie Charlie - tell me
what Happened to you?
Bow Tie Charlie - well he’ll just
say World War Two
Ain’t it hard to keep a good man down?
Charlie went to see the welfare girl
She said he can’t get no cheque
Because he don’t have no place to live
Can’t get no place to live
without that cheque
Maybe one day Charlie did belong
somewhere
Other than the back side of regret
Now he roams the streets in what
looks like total oblivion
But even he ain’t finished yet.
Bow Tie Charlie tell me
how’d you get that way?
Bow Tie Charlie - well he
don’t have much to say
Bow Tie Charlie - tell me
what happened to you?
Bow Tie Charlie - well he’ll just
say World War Two
Ain’t it hard to keep a good man down?
It is really so hard to keep a good man down?
|
||||
30. |
||||
|
Same lyrics as the fast version.
|
||||
31. |
Terminal Restaurant
01:58
|
|||
|
Terminal Restaurant
Dining at the Terminal Restaurant
Remain in tune when you read
over the menu
There’s no way you can get what you want
So remain alert while you eat
what they’re serving
Those dear hearts and those gentle people
They’re gonna make the world go down.
Dining at the Terminal Restaurant
No news is good news unless
someone is hearing it
There’s no way you can get what you want
So remain alert while you eat
what they’re serving
Those dear hearts and those gentle people
They’re gonna make the world go down.
I got indigestion from asking the questions
It’s all my fault.
I hate to be picky but I’m feeling sickly
Please pass the salt.
Those dear hearts and gentle people.
They live and love in my home town.
They’re gonna make the world go down.
|
||||
32. |
Is It Really Love?
02:57
|
|||
|
Is It Really Love?
So much trouble goin’ round
People in a muddle with their
feet off the ground
So many angles stealing my thoughts
Tying my consciousness up in knots
So I’ll take my stand where I always do
By the way there’s something
I’d like to say to you
Is it really love you have in your heart
for me?
Is it really love - come now and set
if free.
So much excitement goin’ down
People lookin’ at me
Like I shouldn’t be hangin’ around
So many choices - so many places to sit
Let me sit with the beggars till I
can fathom it
So I’ll take my stand where I always stood
I always did everything
Everything just the best that I could
Is it really love?….
Wouldn’t it be so nice if people
were convenient?
I know that true love can be so lenient
You may think that I’m not too realistic
I will never be one of their statistics
Is it really love?….
Wouldn’t it be so nice if people weren’t resistant?
You may think that I’m too persistent.
I’m just trying to be, I’m just trying to be
I’m just trying to be - consistent.
|
||||
33. |
Theoretically Blue
02:13
|
|||
|
Theoretically Blue
If you want light your big firecracker
but the light gets in your eyes
Don’t try to find that lost pearl of wisdom
Leave the wisdom for the wise
Get out, get out while you can go
Get out, get out, get on down
No time for analyzing
Spread your honey around
I should be feeling so lonely
I should be feeling so blue
I guess I love myself only
Which makes me theoretically blue.
Like Gary Cooper in ‘The Fountainhead’
As the selfishness takes over the brain
Everyone is so self-absorbed it’s really sickening
and the honest ones are called insane
No matter how I try I just can’t feel guilty
For doing what I want, what I like
Life is very short and I do believe in miracles
I know what’s wrong and what’s right
|
||||
34. |
||||
|
The Ballad of Star Records
Mike opened his store 3 flights up
and took over the town
Then Paul started one in Hamilton
but nearly went down
Mike sent me to ‘The Hammer’
and Steve started Scarborough Star
Vito and Don sold us records
from the back of their car
We stocked a lot of imports
and bands that nobody knew
Our prices were low and our staff
gave the best service too
We started a label in the late 1970’s
We even got a mention in the punk chart
of NME
There’s no label like Star Records
OO-OO Star Records
OO-OO never forget Star Records
OO-OO Star Records
Just look back and there you are
in the halcyon days, the days of Star
Just look back and there we are
in the halcyon days, the days of Star Records
If you didn’t know what kind
of music to buy
Mike would set you straight and
you know that he’d never lie
We were into the music
much more than the cash
We’d provide a public service
and steer you away from the trash
No trash at Star Records
Hey, you think that’s rock and roll?
But have you heard Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent,
Robert Gordon?
So you think Billy Joel and Meatloaf
are hard working men.
Well how about the New York Dolls, Clash
or Television?
What are you buying that shit for?
You’ll be trading it in - in 6 months
Why don’t you buy a record you
might actually keep?
We got a ship of imports coming in
next week that will blow you away.
Blow you away!
You know Star Records survived all
through the CD age
by hardly ever stocking CD’s.
Nah, we don’t sell CD’s.
Records sound better, look better
feel better, are better.
You know - you don’t have to use
a magnifying glass to read the credits.
Hey shhh! Mike’s on the phone.
He’s talking to the warehouse.
‘Hey Vito. Do you think you could
lower the price on that?
I want to give my customers a better deal.’
Yeah, we started a label.
Star Records - The Label With No Choice.
We signed The Forgotten Rebels,
Durango 95, Benzene Jag
and a bunch of other bands.
We started a live music club too.
The Star Club. No commercial bands aloud.
Mike ‘Star’, Mike Shula he was the main man.
A mover and a shaker. He made things happen
and he kept things exciting at Star Records.
|
||||
35. |
||||
|
Bonus track: A Street Called Humanity
I had a dream where I entered an apartment
Full of strangers in a claustrophobic compartment
As I backed out they gaped at me like a badman
I ran downstairs into the street like a madman
I had the sense that I needed to flee
And find some friends on a street called humanity
Too many shadows moving in a murky atmosphere
Lost in the bog like London in fog
With Jack the Ripper somewhere near
I can feel your heart beating soft and tender
The rhythm of your poise is my defender
There’s no simple way out of my dilemma
I’ve got this poison streaking clouds of ugly weather
I can sense there’s some rising in the river
Hear a sound of something soon to be delivered
I wasted time given me once to dream
Now there’s nothing to do but run like a fool
Hand stifling my silent scream
And will you go with me – through the rage
that keeps me at war
And will you fight with me – till my key
finds the right door.
I’m moving toward a street called humanity.
Street called – humanity (4x)
The more I’ve done the less I seem ahead
The more I’ve lived the more I sometimes feel so dead
And what’s the use of me saying I am sorry
When so many times I treated you like quarry
But I can sense some rising in the river
Some good thing about to be delivered
The wasted time was not all misdirected
Maybe wisdom was learned in the cities that burned
And now things can be resurrected
You have stood with me through the rage
that kept me at war
And you have fought with me till my key
found the right door
I’ve found what
I’ve been seeking
On a street called humanity.
Street called – humanity (4x)
|
||||
Bob Bryden Burlington, Ontario
Formerly of Reign Ghost, Christmas, Benzene Jag and Age of Mirrors.
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